healthy corner store toronto model
TRANSCRIPT
Healthy Corner Store Toronto ModelPresentation to Sustain Ontario—webinar, March 4, 2015
The Problem
Food retail in general still dominated by less healthy foods
Many lower income areas of Toronto lack sources of
healthy, affordable, diverse food
“Healthfulness” of Toronto’s Food Retail
Darker red = “less healthy” food
retail environments (1 km radius)
The Problem
Public Health’s mantra:
“making the healthy choice the easiest & most appealing”
must be applied to food retailers too
Currently very little support for independent small retailers
Waterloo, ON study found that females of average height
(5’5) weighed15.2lbs less and had 6.4cm smaller waist
circumference for every km increase in distance from their
home to nearest convenience store (adjusted coefficients).
Source: Minaker, L. (2013). Evaluating food environment assessment methodologies: a multi-level examination of associations
between food environments and individual outcomes. University of Alberta, PhD Thesis.
Compared to infrequent HCS shoppers, residents who visited
our HCS pilot store 2+ times/week consumed on a daily basis:
396 more calories
852mg more sodium, and
69% more added sugar
Frequent Convenience Store Shoppers
Notes: Based on pre-intervention survey, self-reported. Feb 2014, (n=194). No significant differences were found in frequent vs
infrequent supermarket shoppers.
High profit margin
Strong marketing support
Long shelf life
Free new fridge & displays
Attractive product design
Hassle-free distribution
Low risk
High existing customer demand
Financial incentives to sell more
In line with store’s image
No product training required
Some demand for product
Service to community
X Highly perishable
X Lower profit margins
X Distribution?
X Need training in product handling
X Store not branded as F&V seller
X Past failed attempts to stock
X Funds to buy new equipment?
X Change management support?
Choices Facing Convenience Store Owners
Changes Happening, But No Equity Lens
PHAC Funded Food Retail Evaluation
Growing literature on food environments and how they influence diet quality and health status over and above individual knowledge and attitudes
The Context: Food environment research
(Glanz et al. 2005)
Key findings in the literature to date—
Methodological gaps in the literature Inconsistency in how food environments are measured Poor robustness of outcome measures (e.g., diet assessment) Mostly cross-sectional associations Few studies include multiple environmental features in the
same study Few accompanying municipal policy assessments Limited assessments of social context in which interventions are
implemented
The Context: Food environment research
(Minaker 2013; Mah, Minaker, Cook 2014 forthcoming)
The Context: Food environment research
• ‘Food deserts’ per se• Lack of big supermarkets• Big food retailers ignoring
prime locations in lower income neighbourhoods
• Insufficient food production, importation
For Toronto, the problem is NOT
The problem IS
• Poverty!• Many business model,
infrastructure challenges for small and medium stores … enabling policy, economic viability
• Cities (until recently) don’t see food as their mandate
• And more …
Research in 3 lower income sites to evaluate
healthier food retail models
Healthy Corner Store pilot
Mobile Good Food Market site
Non-intervention control site for comparison
Pre-survey
Iterative pilot interventions
Post-survey
Evaluation of outcomes
PHAC-funded Food Retail Evaluation
Assets and strengths of the evaluation
Pre-post, controlled design
Mixed methods
Use of 24h diet recall (ASA24) vs. food frequency
Objective food environment measurement
Novel mobile data collection tool (NEMS
smartphone app)
Proximal metrics (changes in store, point-of-sale)
Shift purchases toward healthier food & displace junk
food sales revenue
Demonstrate potential for economically viable HCS
model
Create toolkit of solutions to support HCS transition
citywide
Healthy Corner Store Pilot Objectives
Healthy CornerPilot Process
Typical HCS Project Components
Source: Jessie Azrilian, Allison Kwan, Mark Linthicum & Julia Wolfson (2012). Creating Healthy Corner Stores: An analysis of factors necessary for effective corner store conversion programs.
Store Owners
Residents’ Association
Project Partners
HCS Pilot Site #1(Before)
“A-Z Variety”
PHAC-funded pilot research
Challenges: Little Fresh Produce
Challenges: Clutter
Challenges: Floor repairs
Challenges: Not maximizing shelf space
City zoning doesn’t allow door directly to outside from apt building retail(but rules in process of changing)
Padlocked!
Challenges:
Challenges: No natural light inside
City Sign Bylaw doesn’t allow outside sign
Challenges: No outside sign!
74% reported annual income <$30,000
Average daily sodium intake – 3910mg
84% born outside Canada
Residents’ Baseline Data
HCS Pilot Site (mid-conversion)
“Lucy’s Fresh Food Market”
POS System installed (March 2014):Still challenging to get timely accurate data
North wall (pre-intervention)
North wall Step 1
North wall Step 2
North wall Step 3
Window opened up
PriceLabels
Participation at Community events
Community Engagement Work
Nearby community agency support: Links to resident groups Local program connections Community outreach workers to
promote store project
Initiative to link HCS & food entrepreneurs
East Scarb Storefront, Seed to Table
TPH Dietitian & HE support
EcDev & Enterprise Toronto
Unexpected Links
Landlord runs children’s morning snack program
Worked w TPH Dietitians to improve food quality
AND fruit now purchased through HCS pilot store
Marketing Support
Health Canada funding to bring in marketing consultants
Current Challenges
Consistent high quality, affordable fruit & veg distribution
Expansion beyond F&V - how to find full inventory of healthier
fresh, prepared or frozen food distributors
Project currently has limited food retail/marketing expertise
Limited sales data – relying on 3rd party for POS system,
database management & sharing
Comments? Questions?
RESEARCH TEAM
Brian Cook – [email protected] Sommerfreund – [email protected] Minaker – [email protected] Mah – [email protected] de Groh